Oral Answers to Questions

Linsey Farnsworth Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

There is a balance to be struck here. I welcome services such as those that run to Hull; they open up new routes and new connectivity. I have, however, asked the Office of Rail and Road to consider the balance in the revenue that they abstract from public operators, and to ensure that we are using constrained capacity in our network appropriately to deliver excellent services for passengers.

[Linsey Farnsworth (Amber Valley) (Lab)]

T8. The RAC recently reported that potholes in Derbyshire are the worst in the country, but rather than welcoming over £75 million of funding for the east midlands, the Conservatives at Derbyshire county council claim that this is not new money and that it is bound up in red tape. Does the Minister agree that these are just more excuses, and that the Conservative-controlled Derbyshire county council should stop complaining and start fixing our roads?

[Lilian Greenwood]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The state of our roads is a daily reminder of Tory failure, which is why this Government have provided record funding to fix them. Derbyshire is getting its share of the extra £20 million going to the East Midlands combined authority. We expect the council to get on with the job and to tell local residents how it intends to use the extra taxpayers’ money that it is getting.